Friday, April 28, 2017

Open mind, open heart

Unity. Compromise. Dialogue. These are such important words, but something in the air these past months seems to work against them.

Last night I heard an interesting interview by Judy Woodruff on the PBS News Hour as she talked with Governor John Kasich about his new book, Two Paths: America Divided or United. The entire interview was fascinating. But what really struck me was when Kasich said that he recommended that each of us take 10 minutes a day to read something with which we do not agree.

Wow, that's a tall order. Most of us tend to read things with which we agree—even if not with everything in the book, magazine or newspaper article, at least with the general tone or thrust. And we do know that Kasich is right and that we should expose ourselves to ideas that might be foreign to us or to which we're diametrically opposed.

Now, after an extremely contentious election cycle, it would be a good time to heed his suggestion. I have several friends and family who voted for a different person than I did, and I have tried to have open conversations with them about what they were hoping for and what they're seeing. But I confess I still continue to read things with which I'm more likely to agree.

Time for a change. It's good to be open. Listening is always good. And exposing myself to other thinking can only broaden my thinking and idea pool, right? An open mind can lead to an open heart. Sounds good to me!